Etymologically
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dessin

Etymology and origin of the French word dessin

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Back-formation
First attested
1529, Geoffroy Tory
Ultimate origin
Latin (dēsignō)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /de.sɛ̃/[1]

Forms

dessin m (plural dessins)[1] Written desseing (1529), dessein (1548) and desing (1549);[2] Richelet in 1680 still objected to the spelling dessin, and the Académie used dessein for this sense until 1798.[2]

Etymology

It is a deverbal noun from French desseigner, dessigner, the older forms of dessiner, influenced by Italian disegno (“drawing”), itself a deverbal of disegnare.[2][3][1] The verb was adapted from the Italian, which comes from Latin dēsignō (“to mark out”).[4][5] The noun and dessein “plan, intention” were at first the same word; the spelling separated the drawing from the plan only around 1700.[6][7] It is also a doublet of the English design.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Geoffroy Tory writes desseings et pourtraictz in Champfleury (1529), for graphic representations.[2][7]

Semantic evolution

Richelet in 1680 blamed the writers who spelled it without e; the two spellings, and the two meanings, were only kept apart at the end of the 17th century.[2][7] Bossuet uses it in 1685 for the arrangement of ornaments, as in a fabric, and Furetière in 1690 records a drawing as a work of art, the graphic side of a painting as against its colour, and by figure the plan of a literary or musical work.[8] The art itself, as taught in schools, is attested before 1778 in Diderot, and the sense “outline, contour” is recorded by Larousse in 1870.[8] The familiar faire un dessin à quelqu'un means to spell something out for someone.[9] The word was borrowed into Romanian, Polish, Turkish and Japanese, among others.[1]

Timeline

  • 1529 – Desseing in Geoffroy Tory.[2]
  • 1548 – Dessein in the accounts of the royal buildings.[2]
  • 1680 – Richelet records the spelling dessin and condemns it.[2]
  • 1690 – Furetière records a drawing as a work of art.[8]
  • 1798 – The Académie adopts the spelling dessin.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A drawing: a representation of things on a surface with a pencil, pen or brush: dessin au trait, dessin au crayon noir.[7][8]
  2. The art of drawing: apprendre le dessin, cours de dessin.[8][2]
  3. The outline or pattern of something, as of the ornaments of a fabric.[7][8]
  4. Dessin animé: an animated cartoon.[8][1]
  5. Dessin industriel: technical drawing.[7]
  6. (familiar) Faire un dessin à quelqu'un: to spell something out.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  6. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  9. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
Cite this entry

“Dessin.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/dessin. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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